If you watched and loved The Handmaid’s Tale, which concludes after its sixth and final season, you might be looking for something else to watch that’s similar. To bide your time between episodes, or once you have binged your way through the show, there are several shows worth checking out with similar themes from all the top streaming services.
Here, I have gathered five shows to stream if you liked The Handmaid’s Tale. One is new with just a single season, so it’s a quick binge. Others have multiple seasons to keep you busy and entertained for months to come.
Paradise (2025-)
Already renewed for a second season, Paradise has a similar premise in that people reside in an oppressive society. It does not disrespect women like Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale. But it is one where the central protagonist rises up to fight against injustices. Similarly, a powerful person uses their influence (and wealth) to create a society they believe is better than the one that existed before.
Paradise will keep you gripped through its eight-episode first season. The political thriller has an equally tremendous cast and a story about good intentions rooted in an evil need for control and a desire to cope with trauma.
Stream Paradise on Hulu.
Silo (2023-)
A post-apocalyptic sci-fi dystopian drama, in Silo, the people who reside in an underground silo don’t have anywhere else to run, like June (Elisabeth Moss) does in The Handmaid’s Tale. The outside world, or so they are told, is an uninhabitable wasteland. They live under the rule of a few individuals who appear to have a cult-like mentality, fueled by warped beliefs and characterized by brainwashing and coercive control.
Like in The Handmaid’s Tale, people are forbidden from owning certain items or reading certain materials, namely anything that might remind them of the world before. Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) starts to believe that there’s more to what’s going on, and her actions result in the rallying of a resistance. Silo is just as dark, though not as disturbing, with fantastic acting and a cast to match. The series has been renewed for a third and fourth season to conclude the story.
Stream Silo on Apple TV+.
Servant (2019-2023)
Servant has similar religious themes to The Handmaid’s Tale. The main plot centers around a woman who loses her baby and receives a lifelike doll that she believes to be real. A young woman is hired to help her care for the “baby,” but it turns out this woman may possess supernatural abilities. As the story unfolds, it dives into topics of religious oppression, cults, and morality.
Servant takes the theme to a psychological horror slant, so the feel and tone of the show are different. But it’s a show fans of The Handmaid’s Tale will appreciate for the way it handles the manipulation of vulnerable women, especially pertaining to their children, and religious control. The series ended after four riveting seasons.
Stream Servant on Apple TV+.
The Leftovers (2014-2017)
Based on the Tom Perrotta novel of the same name, the supernatural drama The Leftovers centers around a disastrous event that has wiped out two percent of the world’s population. Those who survive deal with the breakdown of mainstream religion and the rise of cults with leaders and members who believe themselves to be, or to be following, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Featuring conflict between two major groups, like in The Handmaid’s Tale, The Leftovers touches on differences in beliefs and faith, dealing with trauma, and fighting back for what you believe in. The Leftovers may have only lasted three seasons, but it ranks among the best HBO shows ever.
Stream The Leftovers on Max.
The Walking Dead (2010-2022)
The Walking Dead might not initially seem like a show that fans of The Handmaid’s Tale would appreciate. But there are elements throughout that are reminiscent of themes you’ll find in that series and plenty of life lessons to be learned from the show. As the group navigates survival in a post-apocalyptic world, they come across different groups of survivors who all live by their own principles. Some are religious in nature, while others believe in the survival of the fittest.
There are groups that will happily deliver punishments by death. There are also ones like The Saviors, where Negan claims to respect women yet forces them to be his polygamous wives, tearing them away from their real partners. In both shows, it’s about survival through dire circumstances, the need to make polarizing moral decisions, and groups coming together who might never have done so in the real world.
Stream The Walking Dead on Netflix.
